Archive for the tag 'French Bull Dog'

Ask the French Bulldog Vet - Free whelped, or C Section?

lorihuntdvm July 4th, 2008

I have a frenchie that is expecting her first litter of puppies.  I am trying to decide if I should schedule a C-section or allow her to try to whelp naturally.  What is your opinion?

Dr. Lori writes -
Absolutely you need to plan on a c-section!

Generally speaking, frenchies are not free whelping dogs.  So a cesarean will be necessary.  Trying to free whelp will most likely result in the loss of mom or puppies or BOTH!

Unless you have an exact due date based on ovulation date (which can be determined by progesterone testing done while breeding), then you will need to wait for signs.

I really hope you did progesterone testing!

As her approximate due date gets close, you should take her temperature rectally three times daily.  A normal bitch’s temperature is 100-102.  12-24 hours before labor begins, her temp will drop by at least one full degree and often down around 98 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is the time when you call your vet and schedule the section for that day.  You can also take her to your vet and have daily progesterones done (need to be able to get results quickly, within hours) as when her progesterone drops below 2.0 ng/dl, she will be safe to section.

Good Luck as frenchies can be very difficult to whelp and raise and by your question it sounds like you haven’t done nearly enough research.  I hope you have some time before they arrive to prepare.

Dr. Lori Hunt, DVM

Editor’s Note: I once had a lovely little bitch who came from a free whelping mother. As her due date approached, I assumed she would also be able to successfully free whelp. I was experienced in assisting my girls with their deliveries, and confident all would go well.

Unfortunately, I was wrong - her first puppy, a large pied boy, became lodged in her birth canal. We barely made it to the emergency clinic in time to save her life and the lives of her other two pups. The boy was already dead. Now, I c section all my girls. It’s just not worth losing a single other pup, at least not to me…

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Ask the French Bulldog Geek - Resources for Home Cooked Dog Food?

admin July 4th, 2008

My question is regarding the proper food for a French Bulldog. I have been recommended Taste of the wild kibble, Evo, also a raw diet and home made meals. I am not comfortable with the raw however I am willing to make the homemade meals but do not know what would be a good recipe.

I would not want to make a regular meal that is lacking the vitamins and nutrition necessary for my dogs. It seems there are all kinds of sources of what is best…but what really is?

I was just hoping for some helpful insight.

Carol writes -

When I was personally still cooking for my dogs, I used the mix available from Essex Cottage Farms. It looks basically like a sack of flour, and contains all the assorted bone meal and minerals needed to balance out the food. To it, I added meat (ground beef, chicken, turkey, or fish), ground vegetables, greens (mostly alfalfa) and some oil. I’d then bake it, either in individual serving muffin tins, or as a ‘meat loaf’. The dogs seemed to love it! In fact, when Tessa was pregnant with her litter of ten (!!) Frenchie puppies, Essex Cottage Farms food was the only thing I could get her to eat.

Since what you want seems to be more a completely ‘home made’ recipe, I asked for advice from some of the members of the French Bulldog mailing lists:

Monica of HotSchott French Bulldogs writes -

Carol, there is a GREAT book out there for home cookers. I used to before I fed raw and I used to use the recipes all the time. My husband always thought I was cooking for him. LOLOLOL The book is called Barker’s Grub and can be purchased from Amazon.com.

Linda writes -

my vet gave me a copy that is actually from science diet that has many different recipes on the page. And he worked with me on each dogs weight to devise the amount of vitamins and bone meal to add to the recipes. And it has everything from calorie reduced to protein reduced to many types. You could go to science diet ( not that I would recommend you feed their food ) but down load the recopies. I often used eggs for the protein as you can measure it exactly. And yams or sweet potatoes . Children’’s’ vitamins dissolve much better and natural health food section of your store has them. For 5o lb dogs I used 1/2 or 1 teas per day. But work with your vet .and yes I used canned salmon too.

Another suggestion was to join a mailing list for people who home cook for their pets -

You might try this group. Some do raw, some cook, some feed kibble, and some combine. Always great info and discussions,

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen

I also found these recipes books, which seem to have favorable reviews from people who’ve used them:

The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs - 50 Homemade Recipes

Real Food for Dogs - 50 Vet Approved Recipes

The Natural Pet Food Cook Book

Bone Appetit

Three Dog Bakery Cookbook

Better Food for Dogs

Here’s a great website for home cooking resources - http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/dogfoodrecipes.htm

Enjoy, and bone appetit!

Carol

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Ask the Frenchie Vet - Learning About Loss

lorihuntdvm June 28th, 2008

My husband and I just recently lost our  healthy Frenchie (She passed on her 5th birthday June 15, 2008).

We dropped her off at our vet around 11 am to be boarded and we received a call at 8:30 am  the following morning that our dog (Poonch) was exhibiting seizure like activity. She was rushed to the emergency vet facility and we immediately headed home (6 hour drive). We were told that her blood levels were way out of whack and she was going into liver failure and her feces were dark and bloody. Her pupils were also constricted.

When we finally made it home, I was shocked at her condition. She passed away 10 minutes later. We are dumbfounded and overcome with grief. My husband and I have to know what happened so we drove her to Virginia Tech for an autopsy. We are still waiting toxicology results.

The initial autopsy confirmed that the left side of her heart was enlarged, her liver was enlarged, she had stomach ulcers, and blood clots throughout her body. No neurological damage. We are desperate for answers.

Could she have gotten into something at home or in the care of our vet? The vet assured us that there is no way she was accidentally given another dog’s medicine. I was hoping that maybe you might be able to provide any possible causes for her death or give us any suggestions.

We would really appreciate it! I feel like I can’t rest until I know what happened.

Dr. Lori writes -

I am so sorry about your sudden and terrible loss of Poonch!  I can only imagine how hard it must be for you two.

It is difficult to say what could have caused it, but it definitely could have been a toxin of some sort.  It could have also possibly been anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) to something like a bee sting, bug bite, or some other cause.  The seizure activity could also have gotten so bad that it is possible that it shut down all her systems that quickly.

Was she on any meds?  or a new food?  I think the toxicology results will be telling for you.

Please do give us an update when/if you get some answers.

Lori Hunt, DVM

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Ask the Frenchie Vet - French Bulldog Weight at Maturity?

lorihuntdvm June 23rd, 2008

I just had a question on the growth of my frenchie. He is about 16 pounds at 6 months old. Should I expect him to grow much more??

He is a purebred Frenchie, but doesn’t seem to have as big as bodies as other french bulldogs I see in pictures.

Dr. Lori writes -

Hi there…

Different frenchie lines grow at different paces and have different body types. Yours may simply be a leaner more “terrier” type frenchie.

Your breeder may be able to give you and idea of what she expects his adult size to be.  If he is 16# at 6 months, I would expect him to be about 22-24# when full grown.  They seem to be about 75% grown by his age.

Dr. Lori Hunt, DVM

Tags: , , , , , ,

Ask the French Bulldog Veterinarian - Bloody stools in new Frenchie puppy

lorihuntdvm June 16th, 2008

I recently purchased a 17 month old French Bulldog on May 20. She was flown in from West Virginia to Minnesota. She was also neutered on May 12.

It is two weeks to the day since we got her and now she is very very sad almost depressed. She sleeps most the day and all through the night. Now she has bloody stools as well.

We took her to a vet and they said she looks very healthy and her swabs and stool samples all came back negative. They suggested putting her on a bland diet which we have since Saturday May 31st.

They gave us some pills for her but the side affects are awful! Yesterday her stools were still bloody and she is so sad and down in the dumps. I am really worried.

She is so sweet and has such a great personality that we hate to see her like this. Is there anything that you can suggest we do for her??


Dr. Lori writes -

Something isn’t right if she is having bloody stools.

I am not sure what pills they gave her, but they may be necessary to get her gastrointestinal system back on track.  I would also recommend repeating the stool sample as sometimes things don’t show up for a bit.

You could consider diet change or the addition of probiotics (good bacteria fir the GI system).  I would also suggest you have her rechecked as soon as possible by a veterinarian and entertain the idea of blood work.

Good Luck with her, I hope her adjustment to her new home becomes easier.

Dr. Lori Hunt, DVM

Tags: , , , , , ,

Next »